I'm for tasing individuals who resist arrest. It gives cops more options. But using it against a 70+ year-old great grandmother? That's just plain stupid. And the fact that the brass defended that trooper is doubly insane. The woman was resisting but the officer could have easily subdued her and placed cuffs on the tiny woman. This case makes it more difficult for legitimate uses of the tactic to be employed by other police departments. The result will be a backlash. Congress might have to step in and provide guidance. You canno use excessive force against the citizenry and expect there not be consequences. This will ultimately undermine our ability to fight real crime. It also undermines the publics' trust in law enforcement.
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Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Video: David Letterman's Top Ten List on Palin's NY Visit
This was predictably hysterical. See the video. Listed below:
Top Ten Highlights Of Sarah Palin's Trip To New York:
10. Visited New York landmarks she normally only sees from Alaska
9. Laughed at all the crazy-looking foreigners entering the U.N.
8. Made moose jerky on Rachael Ray
7. Keyed Tina Fey's car
6. After a wink and a nod, ended up with a kilo of crack
5. Made coat out of New York City rat pelts
4. Sat in for Kelly Ripa. Regis couldn't tell the difference.
3. Finally met one of those Jewish people Mel Gibson's always talking about
2. Bought makeup from Bloomingdale's to update her "slutty flight attendant" look
1. Especially enjoyed not appearing on Letterman
Sarah, you might imagine, was not happy:
California-based radio show host John Ziegler asked Palin what she thought about the joke during his show on KGIL-1260 yesterday. Palin said Letterman was “sad” not to realize she was in New York “doing some good things here for good people,” including an autism walk.
“That’s pretty pathetic, good ol’ David Letterman,” Palin said.
Poll: 52% Say No One Speaks for the Republicans
It keeps getting worse for the Republicans. This USA Today/Gallup poll shows how bad it really is:
Republicans, out of power and divided over how to get it back, are finding even the most basic questions hard to answer.
Here's one: Who speaks for the GOP?
The question flummoxes most Americans, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, which is among the reasons for the party's sagging state and uncertain direction.
A 52% majority of those surveyed couldn't come up with a name when asked to specify "the main person" who speaks for Republicans today. Of those who could, the top response was radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh (13%), followed in order by former vice president Dick Cheney, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former House speaker Newt Gingrich. Former president George W. Bush ranked fifth, at 3%.
So the dominant faces of the Republican Party are all men, all white, all conservative and all old enough to join AARP, ranging in age from 58 (Limbaugh) to 72 (McCain). They include some of the country's most strident voices on issues from Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court to President Obama's policies at home and abroad. Two are retired from politics, and one has never been a candidate.
This comes in the wake other polls showing a party in decline:
A new Gallup analysis shows that the precipitous decline in the number of people who identify themselves as Republicans is widespread across nearly every demographic group -- a development that suggests that there is no simple solution to solving the party's current problems.
As we have written about before, the number of self-identifying Republicans stood at 21 percent last month -- the lowest it has been since the fall of 1983.
This tendency for people to disassociate themselves with the Republican Party is echoed in Gallup's data. Combining several months of surveys -- with a large sample of more than 7,000 adults -- shows that over the last eight years self-identifying Republicans have gone from 44 percent to 39 percent while self-identifying Democrats have risen from 45 percent to 53 percent. (These numbers push independents who lean in one direction or the other into the party toward which they lean.)
It's a white male party. This Gallup poll is from 6/1:
More than 6 in 10 Republicans today are white conservatives, while most of the rest are whites with other ideological leanings; only 11% of Republicans are Hispanics, or are blacks or members of other races. By contrast, only 12% of Democrats are white conservatives, while about half are white moderates or liberals and a third are nonwhite.
Baptist Preacher Calls for Obama's Death on FOXnews
This is another example of FOX promoting anti-Obama hate. Found this shocking story at Firedog Lake:
Crazy Christian Wiley Drake--pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., former running mate of American Independent Party presidential candidate Alan Keyes, a former second vice-president of the SBC--boasted after the assassination of Dr George Tiller that he had prayed for Tiller's death. On a recent webcast of his daily radio talk show, Drake the murder of Tiller "an answer to prayer."
Then he appeared on Alan Colm's Fox radio show and explained that Tiller's real sin wasn't abortion but not being right with Jesus, though Dr. Tiller's church thought he was right enough with Jesus to been usher. He also laid out his prayer style to Fox's Alan Combs:
Imprecatory prayer is agreeing with God, and if people don't like that, they need to talk to God. God said it, I didn't. I was just agreeing with God.
When Colms asked if there are others for whom Drake is praying "imprecatory prayer," Drake hesitated before answering that there are several.
The usurper that is in the White House is one, B. Hussein Obama.
Colms then asked:
Are you praying for his death?
Drake replied:
Yes
Colms pressed on:
So you're praying for the death of the president of the United States?
The pastor replied:
Yes.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
British Police used Water Torture on Drug Smugglers
This is the result of Bush/Cheney's torture policies. The police are now the law breakers. We are headed back to the middle ages. And they call this freedom.
Six Metropolitan police officers have been suspended from duty following allegations they used a form of water-based torture on suspected drugs smugglers, it emerged last night.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said it was investigating the conduct of officers based in Enfield, north London, during drugs raids in the borough last November.
Neither the IPCC nor Scotland Yard would comment on the nature of the allegations but sources said the officers were accused of pushing suspects' heads into buckets of water.
One IPCC document is said to use the word "waterboarding" – the CIA technique condemned as torture by Barack Obama – in connection with the allegations.
The torture claims are part of an investigation which also includes accusations that evidence was fabricated and suspects' property was stolen. It has already led to the abandonment of a drug trial, it was reported last night.
Review: Palm Pre, iPhone 3GS Neck-And-Neck
A new challenge to iphone and blackberry:
The smart phone wars have heated up over the past few days with the release of Palm's new Pre and Apple's announcements of a new iPhone, a cheaper price for its existing phone and a new operating system for users of all iPhones.
The Palm Pre, which hit stores on Saturday for $199 after rebate (and a two year contract with Sprint) is a very worthy competitor for Apple. Unlike the iPhone it has a physical keyboard which, while a bit small, is quite good. But it also has a touch screen that you can use to launch programs, zoom, shrink or move windows and dial the phone, although there's no onscreen virtual keyboard for entering text.
One of the things I like best about the Pre is that you can synchronize it over the air. Rather than connect it to a PC or Mac to move over contacts and calendar items, you simply sign in to your existing accounts and it brings over all the data via the Sprint network. It works with Google's calendar and Gmail, Yahoo and other web-based services as well as for businesses with Microsoft Exchange servers. Apple does this through its $99 a year MobileMe service but Palm does it for free with a variety of services.
Gingrich Speaks at GOP Event not Palin
Report: U.S. to Allow 10 Banks to Repay TARP
Veteran LA police detective charged with murder
New World Trade Deal by 2010: WTO Chief
44% - Free Traders, Again (Pew)
Congress Pushes to Impeach Convicted Federal Judge
Russia expands ban on US imports of meats
Egypt: 5 more students test Positive to Swine flu
Who is challenging Ahmadinejad's power?
Gingrich speaks at GOP event after Palin flap
China reports 11 new H1N1 cases, total reaches 100+
US military releases Iraqi Shiite militia leader
Gunmen throw grenades in Acapulco, 3 police killed
Spanish Internet Music Piracy Developer on Trial
Where The Jobs Are: Summer 2009
British Hacker Fights U.S. Extradition
Pirate Party wins in Sweden
Study: Conservatives more likely to read opposing viewpoints than liberals
Scarborough falsely claimed KSM and Zubaydah "were not asked" about an Iraq/Al Qaeda link
Using Twitter and Facebook to Find a Job
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sotomayor Fractures Ankle at New York Airport
Despite Fracturing Ankle, Sotomayor Keeps Appointments with Senators
Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
Video: State Trooper Dies Following Pa. Shootout with Man Who Fled in Car Along kidnapped son
Indicted Chicago alderman pleads not guilty
No public threat in tritium leak at Ill. plant
Work to start on $8.7 billion NY-NJ tunnel
Shooting deaths of Oklahoma girls remain a mystery one year later
Laura Bush: Sotomayor 'a Good Nominee'
Labour Party Suffers Worst Electoral Results In A Century
Conservatives Score Wins in EU Parliament Voting
Laura Bush: Sotomayor 'a Good Nominee'
Pro-Western bloc Beats Hezbollah in Lebanon vote
N. Korea Sentences 2 U.S. Reporters to 12 Years in Prison
Independent Panel: Lax Oversight of Military Contracts Wasted Billions in Iraq and Afghanistan
China is now World No. 2 Arms Spender
AP Analysis shows Recession's Impact Moderating
Palin Accused of Plagiarising Newt Gingrich
Global Military Spending Sets New Record
Khmer Rouge Murdered Children to Prevent Revenge Later On
Meth labs again on rise in Kentucky
Sampras: Federer is the 'Best Ever'
Disabled man Boarded up in his House during Foreclosure
Does Israel Need Obama's Tough Love?
Video: 1 in 4 Children may Suffer from Sleep Disorders
Man gets Tongue Bitten off During Rape Attempt
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Video: Face The Nation (6-7-09)
Top Conservative, Krauthammer, Calls Sotomayor Racist
Judge Sotomayor's Votes Show No Single Ideology - Washington Post
Video: Face The Nation (6-7-09); Newt Gingrich, David Axelrod
Transcript: Secretary of State Clinton on ABC's 'This Week'
New Orleans mayor, wife quarantined in China
More Bodies Found Near Jet Crash Site
Burger King: Global Warming is Baloney
Some Militants Respond Positively to Obama Speech
US Unemployment Rate Gallops Ahead of Expectations
18 killed in clash between Mexican army, gunmen
Report Finds Major Problems in Wartime Spending
Paris mayor gives Dalai Lama honorary citizenship
First Black female rabbi ordained
Federer Wins French Open, Ties Sampras' Record
U.S. Contractors Suspected of Murder Arrested in Iraq
Peru Protest Violence Kills 22 Police
U.S. Security Contractors Suspected in murder of fellow Employee Arrested in Iraq
Brazil Crews find 2 Bodies from Air France Flight
Pakistanis avenge Mosque blast, attack TalibanU.S.
Military: Blast Strikes Baghdad's Green Zone
Lawyer: Carradine Murdered by Secret Kung Fu Society
Survivor: Spain plane's wing dipped sharply
Online Payday Loan Industry Charging 700% on Interest Rates
Do We Need A Technological Breakthrough To Avert The Climate Crisis?
Japan explores using cell phones to stop pandemics
Supreme Court Asked To Block Chrysler Sale
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Man Threatening to Kill Obama Arrested
Man Sought for Threatening President Arrested
Transcript: President's remarks at D-Day Anniversary Ceremony
Fears Escalate Over Violence in Islamabad
British Man, Teen Son Held After Ricin Found in Terror Raid
Report: A full third of Cocaine Smuggled into U.S. Transported with Submarines
Study: High Number of 'Hidden Homeless' in U.S.
Teen survivor of genocide awaits US graduation
Germany warned of pre-election Islamist Attack
Radio Ads Pulled Over Transgender 'Freaks' Remarks
Pair 'starved girl to death by locking up their kitchen full of food'
Mom Accused of Killing 4 Daughters Waives Right to Trial
Flight 447 had Missing Instruments, Autopilot not Turned On
AirFrance did not replace missing instruments on Flight 447; autopilot not Turned on
Airbus plans to replace faulty speed monitors
Foreign buyers snapped up U.S. assets in 2008
Mexico: 29 kids die in day-care center fire
2 Kensington men rewarded in rape suspect's capture; part of mob that beat suspect
FBI Probes Muhammad's Ties to Ohio Mosque
Al Qaeda eyes bio attack from Mexico
Friday, June 5, 2009
GM exposure is $50 million
GM exposure is $50 million
US looking at its own sanctions against NKorea
Pelosi says China stalling on human rights
U.N. report: Nature best controls climate gases
Mattel fined $2.3 million for lead in toys
Man who crashed plane to fake death pleads guilty
Consumer borrowing plunges by $15.7B in April
Mudd withdraws from consideration amid interrogation questions
UN: New uranium traces found in Syria
New drug war strategy focuses on weapons and cash
Woman Found Dead After Apparent Carjacking
Arsonist Sentenced to Death for Killing 5 Firefighters
Obama Calls for new Effort for 2-state Solution
Bomb kills around 40 at mosque in northwest Pakistan
Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi: Naked Guests, teenage girlfriend, more corruption allegations
U.N. report alleges widespread killings by Kenyan police
Obama calls for new effort for 2-state solution
Body Found In Hunt For Missing Mich. Girl
Scientists find more dinosaur bones at Utah quarry
Oil rises to new high for 2009
Why the World Cares More AboutSomalia's Pirates than its People (Time.com)
Russian military historian blames Poland for WWII
Palm Pre: A Challenge to the Apple Iphone?
Thursday, June 4, 2009
GAO: Government Food Aid Being Wasted
GAO: Government's food aid programs are spending more and delivering less to hungry people
New swine flu deaths reported in 6 states
Man charged with threat against Obama in Utah
Change you can believe in: President Obama sells ambassadorial posts just like his predecessors.
Sotomayor's financial disclosures show a judge of modest means.
Number of roadside bombs surge in Afghanistan.
Analyst says new North Korean missile pad is ready
Text of Obama's speech to Muslims
Rifle group appeals handgun ban to high court
IRS to seek more regulation of tax preparers
Deadly bat disease spreading fast
NY Times: Taliban Stir Rising Anger of Pakistanis
Johann Hari: Could We Be the Generation that Runs out of Fish?
NBA decides to fine MVP James after all
"Kung Fu" actor Carradine found hanged in Thai hotel
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Video: Store Owner with Rifle gives Thief Money, Bread, and Prayers
This is a true hero. He should be rewarded for his kindness. Unfortunately, Mohammad Sohail, will be forgotten in a couple of weeks. Or those who commit terrible crimes getting remembered.
An owner of a New York store thwarted a robbery only to take pity on the perpetrator, who claimed he could not feed his family, and gave the man $40 and a loaf of bread, a video of the incident showed.
A video posted on Tuesday by the Newsday newspaper on its website www.newsday.com showed a masked man wielding a bat as he entered a convenience store in Shirley, Long Island, just after midnight on May 21 and demanded money.
But when the store's owner, identified by the local Channel 12 TV station as Mohammad Sohail, pulled out a rifle, the masked man dropped to his knees and appeared to beg for forgiveness.
"He said 'I am sorry, I have no money, no job, my family is hungry,'" Sohail told the TV station. "Then I feel bad for him ... I take $40 for him."
Sohail said he was not planning to press charges.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Climate Change Responsible for 300,000 Deaths a year
From the Global Humanitarian Forum:
First ever report exclusively focused on the global human impact of climate change calculates more than 300 million people are seriously affected by climate change at a total economic cost of $125 billion per year.
- Report projects that by 2030, worldwide deaths will reach almost 500,000 per year; people affected by climate change annually expected to rise to over 600 million and the total annual economic cost increase to around $300 billion.
- Report projects that by 2030, worldwide deaths will reach almost 500,000 per year; people affected by climate change annually expected to rise to over 600 million and the total annual economic cost increase to around $300 billion.
Bush Defends His Torture Policies, Says Lawyers OK'd It
Former President George W. Bush is finally speaking out. He has decided to follow the Cheney approach and defend the indefensible. But he is hiding behind his lawyers.
Former president George W. Bush is stepping back into the public arena to defend his decision to allow harsh interrogation of some detainees.
The former president addressed the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan Thursday with wide-ranging remarks on his presidency, his retirement and decisions he made while in office, the Detroit Free Press reports.
He defended his decision to allow harsh interrogation of the terrorist who ordered the 9/11 attacks, saying it was cleared by his lawyers to prevent what his advisers believed was another, imminent attack.
"I made a decision within the law to get information so I can say, I've done what it takes to do my duty to protect the American people," he told the largely sympathetic audience. "I can tell you, the information gained saved lives."
But he does make some interesting admonitions on the economic mess he left behind.
In his first major speech on his presidency since leaving office, he also acknowledged that he had abandoned his free-market principles to bail out the U.S. financial industry, but says he did so because he was told that the nation otherwise would fall into a depression.
The Associated Press reports that the 43rd president blamed "a lack of responsible regulation" in the lending industry for the recession and condemned the practices of some financial institutions, like Fannie Mae.
He's also paling around with ex-President, and fellow criminal, Bill Clinton. They have a lot in common.
Former President George W. Bush hardly misses it at all. “Free at last,” he proclaimed before the same crowd at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. “I like being in Texas, and I do not miss the spotlight.”
But that was practically where the differences stopped as the two former presidents appeared for the first time on a stage together to discuss national and international policy. Each earned more than an estimated $150,000 for the appearance.
Some 6,000 people — or their corporate employers — paid from $200 to $2,500 to attend the event, a rare chance to see two former presidents, who served in succession, square off from opposite sides of the political spectrum.
What they got instead, while no less historic, was a glimpse of the strange-bedfellows-for-the-moment friendship between the two men, once bitter rivals.
Mr. Clinton made it clear from the start that he would avoid any major clashes with Mr. Bush, telling the crowd that the agreed-upon moderator, Frank McKenna, the former Canadian ambassador to the United States, would try to meet their expectations by turning the convention hall into a gladiators’ coliseum, but “we’ll do our best to thwart them.”
And as they settled into overstuffed chairs, Mr. Bush and Mr. Clinton became something of an ex-presidents’ support group, avoiding direct critiques of each other, or, for that matter, their future club member, President Obama (“I want you to understand that anything I say is not to be critical of my successor,” Mr. Bush said, “there are plenty of critics in American society.”)
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Study Finds Half of men Arrested Test Positive for Drugs
This study only confirms what we know--drugs have a terrible impact on our society and lead to criminal conduct. What isn't mentioned in this study is how many of these same individuals have drinking problems. Alcohol has an even greater impact on criminal behavior. We need a study that shows that disastrous impact.
Half of the men arrested in 10 U.S. cities test positive for some type of illegal drug, a federal study found.
Not only do the findings show "a clear link between drugs and crime," they also highlight the need to provide drug treatment, says Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, which will make the data public Thursday.
Assessing offenders for drug and mental health problems and providing treatment is "important if you want to stop recidivism and recycling people through the system," says Kerlikowske, who supports drug courts that offer court-ordered drug treatment.
"There's an opportunity when someone is arrested to divert them to treatment if they need it," says Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance Network, a group that supports legalizing marijuana and treating drug use as a public health issue. "But people shouldn't have to get arrested to get treatment."
In 2008 researchers interviewed and obtained urine samples from 3,924 men arrested in 10 metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New York, Portland, Ore., Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
In Chicago, 87% tested positive for drug use and in Sacramento, 78% tested positive. Many of the men — 40% in Chicago and 29% in Sacramento — tested positive for more than one drug.
Marijuana is the most common drug in every city where testing was done except Atlanta, where cocaine is most prevalent, the study found.
Methamphetamine use is concentrated on the west coast where 35% of the men arrested in Sacramento and 15% of the men arrested in Portland tested positive for the drug.
Heroin use is highest, at 29%, among men arrested in Chicago, an increase from 20% in 2007. Heroin use among arrestees declined in Portland, from 12% in 2007 to 8% in 2008.
More facts:
Provisional data for 1997 show that respondents arrested in the past year for possession or sale of drugs and driving under the influence had the highest percentage of illicit drug use in the past year. Past year illicit drug users were also about 16 times more likely than nonusers to report being arrested and booked for larceny or theft; more than 14 times more likely to be arrested and booked for such offenses as driving under the influence, drunkenness, or liquor law violations; and more than 9 times more likely to be arrested and booked on an assault charge.
